


pining and panic

by nonbinarywithaknife (littleboxes)



Series: me sobbing about critical role [27]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Gen, Gift Giving, Girls in Love, Jewelry, Mutual Pining, Pining, Romantic Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-11-05 02:15:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17910056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littleboxes/pseuds/nonbinarywithaknife
Summary: nott woos a monk





	pining and panic

**Author's Note:**

> relevant headcanon: halflings give sentimental gifts to indicate romantic interest  
> -for context: nott still used to be a halfling; i left it ambiguous if yeza's still in the picture

When it first starts, it’s not her eyes. Not her hair, or her ears, or her badass piercings. No, what Beau is first attracted to about Nott the Brave, is her hands. She can’t remember what mission they were on at the time, but Nott was picking the lock on a door, and Beau couldn’t stop staring at her hands. They were small, obviously, and green. Nott had forest green claws that looked like they could slit her throat. Before she could notice anything else, though, Nott had finished the lock, and had turned to look at the group expectantly. Beau marched forward, the images of Nott’s hands still running through her head.

From then on, Beau watches for Nott’s hand. Sees how they’re covered in slightly darker green freckles- mostly dusted across the top of her hands. When she reaches to unscrew her flask one night, Beau sees the raised scar slashed across one of her palms and wonders. Was it from learning to fight with her shortsword? A misfired bolt? Or… something else?

It’s only because she’s looking that she sees it. Nott’s claws aren’t the deep, nearly black, green they usually are. Instead, they’re a navy blue that blends in very well. There’s almost no difference, expect the slight shine they give off when Nott moves her hands just so under the sun. The polish looks nice, and Beau wishes she had the courage to tell her that.

Beau awakes from unconsciousness quickly, like lightning’s running under her skin. She starts to get up, until she realizes clawed hands that she knows damn near _intimately_ by now are cupping her face. She focuses her eyes on the worried face in front of her- that of Nott, and Beau recognizes the taste of potion still coating her tongue. She almost doesn’t want to move- she wants to savor the feeling of claws gently biting into her skin, not quite piercing but dangerous _enough_. But the battle rages on around them, so Beau grips her staff and looks Nott in the eyes. “Thank you, Nott,” she says, voice gentler and more sincere than it usually is, let alone during a fight. Nott’s yellow eyes blink in surprise, and she yanks her hands away once she realizes they’re still around Beau’s face.

Beau gets up, and heads towards the nearest enemy, and Nott hides behind a rock formation. Later that night, after the battle has been won, Beau lays on her bedroll, and thinks about claws, gripping her chin with an urgent gentleness.

* * *

 

It’s the middle of the night, and Nott and Caleb are on watch. Well, technically Caleb is the only one watching, because Nott is too busy having a (small) freakout.

They’d been in the middle of a battle, and everything had been going fine, as usual, until Beau suddenly went down. Everyone else was either engaged or too far away, and Nott’s heart was beating like a jackrabbit, and so she ran over. A few crossbow bolts to the neck killed the creature, and Nott was so _so_ glad she’d bought a healing potion in that last town. Even though she _knew_ that the potion would work, that Beau would be fine, the few seconds of waiting were agonizing.

And then Beau was up, and staring at her, and _thanking her_ , with a voice that was way more sincere than Nott was expecting, and then Nott realized she was still holding Beau’s face, and now Nott couldn’t stop thinking of those dark blue eyes staring into her own, and what if instead, Beau had moved forward, rather than up-?

Nott’s had a crush on Beau for _a while_ , but this was the first time there’d been any indication her feelings were returned, and Nott was realizing she was _not prepared_ for that.

The circle her thoughts were running in was interrupted by Caleb putting a hesitant hand on her shoulder.

“Nott? Is everything… alright? You seem-” Caleb paused, and Nott sighed.

“I- well, it’s- Beau might actually like me back?? And I don’t- I-,” Nott breathed deeply, and tried to organize her thoughts, then continued, “What do I _do_ , Caleb? I wasn’t expecting this to go anywhere! And even if I wanted to start something, I don’t even know what kind of gift I would give her!”

Caleb looked kind of alarmed at the fact that she was asking him for advice with interpersonal relationships, but it’s not as if she’d told anyone else about her crush.

“Er, well. If you believe she likes you in the same way, any gift from you would be acceptable, I would imagine?” he said, scritching Frumpkin.

“But- I can’t just give her _anything_. The gift has to have _meaning_ , like, like something to do with where you first met, or their favorite color, or something- wait. Caleb, how close are we to Trostenwald right now?”

Caleb took a minute to think. “Only a few days' trip, why?”

A smile crawled it’s way onto Nott’s face. “I think I have an idea,” she said.

* * *

 

Thankfully, the group hadn’t questioned her too hard when she suggested they swing by Trostenwald, and Jester had decided it was a wonderful chance to reminisce. They’d scattered about into the town, but Nott was headed straight to the Herbalist’s. She had materials to buy.

Davies was easily convinced to give her the ingredients she wanted, once she convinced him she wasn’t going to turn him in. She went back to the inn and experimented for a while, before finding the combinations she wanted, and left the vials to simmer in her and Caleb’s room. A couple hours had passed, and now she just had to find a blacksmith, and the gift would be complete.

It was harder than she’d expected to have the smith make the piece, but with enough gold anything can be done. Nott was very glad she’d been saving, and departed with a promise that it would be ready in the morning.

She made her way back to the inn, where her concoction was nearly ready. She made the necessary adjustments, and before she knew it sunset had passed. She curled up in the bed with Caleb, and tried to dispel her nervousness. There was no way Beau would hate her gifts. Everything would be _fine_.

* * *

 

Nott got up, corked the vials, and fetched her metalwork, and then tried to work up the courage to talk to Beau. She absolutely _did not_ want to do this in front of everyone, but asking Beau to come with her was equally as attention-grabbing. Thankfully, her chance came before she had to do anything. “I’m gonna go for a walk,” Beau announced, and went to leave. Nott waited until Beau had left the inn before following her. It didn’t take long to catch up, and before she knew it, they were on the banks on the Ustaloch. Nott glared at the water, but stepped out of the shadows and cleared her throat.

Beau jumped, and whirled around, but relaxed when she saw it was Nott. “Hell, Nott, you scared the shit out of me! What’s up?”

Nott could feel herself freezing, so she shoved the wrapped parcel into Beau’s hand, with a mumbled, “This is for you,” that was near intelligible.

As Beau unwrapped the gift with a surprising gentleness, Nott wringed her hands. First, Beau pulled out the simple box. She gasped when she opened it. On a thin cloth, lay an intricately wrought ear cuff, in the form of a peacock feather. She turned to Nott, “You- got this? For me?” Nott nodded, blushing furiously.

She picked it up, and then turned to Nott again. “Would you help me put it on?”

Beau leaned down so Nott could reach, and Nott gently fastened it on. “Thanks Nott, I- I love it,” she said, and Nott motioned to the second part of the gift awkwardly. “There’s- ah, another thing.”

There were two vials, each filled with a dark, slightly bluish liquid. Beau looked at her oddly. “What are these?”

Nott flushed again. “Well, remember when we left Trostenwald the first time, you all bought some skein? I… improved the recipe and turned it into a liquid. There’s enough for four trips- you only drink half the vials at once, and it _should_ be a much better experience.”

Beau had an impressed look on her face. “I knew you could make acid, but- wow. Nott, you made these yourself? That’s amazing!”

“So- so you accept the gifts?” Nott asked, leaning back and forth on her heels.

“Of course!”

“Well, ah- bend down, then,” she said, and when Beau did, Nott leaned forward and kissed her. It was just as nice as she had imagined it would be, and more. They stayed like that for a few seconds, before Beau pulled away.

“I’ve wanted to do that for so long,” Beau whispered, and Nott blinked, before grinning like a fool.

* * *

 

The two of them stayed together by the Ustaloch for the rest of the day, and the hours flew by. After watching the sunset together, they walked back to the inn together, hand in hand. Caleb and Jester were the only two downstairs when they came in, and Caleb was the first to notice them. Both were smiling at each other, but looked up when they felt his eyes on them. He gave an awkward smile and a thumbs-up to Nott, and she let out a laugh.

Jester turned, at that, and let out a squeal when she noticed their joined hands. She bounded over right away, demanding all the details, and Nott blushed a deep green as Beau described how she’d been pining for ages.

**Author's Note:**

> -beau's ear cuff inspiration: (https://www.zifiti.com/images/itemImgOrig/803/803_374260.jpg)  
> -though i imagine it with less gems & shiny and mostly rough metal work  
> -yes this is me begging for comments


End file.
